ATTACHMENT STYLE, SELF ESTEEM, AND SELF EFFICACY AS A FACTOR OF HOMESICKNESS AMONG UNDERGRADUATE FRESHMEN (2)
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Every year, successful secondary school graduate students move from one place to another to pursue tertiary level education. Students transferring to collegesand universities are increasing as the number and capacity of higher institutions in the country is growing.
Entering higher institution is often seen as an exciting time. However, it can also be a challenging time for students who may have moved away from their social support base and are learning to adapt to a new environment. As a freshman enters university this is a transformative time in their life where they will be figuring out who they are and how to take care of themselves. Students will use this first year away at university in a new environment to try to figure this out. This is all part of the adjustment process they will face as they enter higher institution. This adjustment process is extremely significant because according to research how a student adjusts during their first year of university lays the ground work for other events during their university life (Baker &Siryk, 1984). There are many factors that affect a universityfreshmen’s adjustment process. This study will look at some of the major factors.
One of the major factors that affect the freshmen’s adjustment process is the transition that the student will face. A student’s transition includes anything from starting university for the first time to moving away from home for the first time. A student’s transition is one of the most important aspects of adjustment. If a student does not have a smooth transition to university they will quite possibly have a difficult time adjusting. A student who is starting university for the first time could be facing one of the largest life changes they have ever faced. “Early research on the impact of major life events suggested that any event that caused a person to make a substantial amount of adjustment in his or her life was likely to be stressful (Lafreniere, Ledgerwood& Docherty, 1997).
There has been consistent evidence that major change or transition in the life ofhuman beings can be a risk factor for physical and mental disorder (e.g., Dodge &Martin, 1970; Totman, 1979; Fisher, 1986; Fisher & Hood, 1987) and for significantshifts in subjective experiences of psychological wellbeing (e.g., Hirsch &Rapkin, 1987). One of the most significant life changes that many young people make is the transition to university. Fisher and Hood (1987) identified that first year students making this transition show greatly elevated levels of psychological distress and Peel’s research (2000) outlined how such students often expect to experience difficulties such as significant isolation (“you’re just a number, nobody cares”). Lu (1994) has identified that the university transition shares many features with other significantly stressful life events. One of the major setback student face during their transition phase is homesickness.
The transition from high school to college/university often involves separation from home as well as adapting to a new academic environment. For most new students, adjusting to an unfamiliar academic setting can induce homesickness. Homesickness is defined as the distress and functional impairment caused by an actual or anticipated separation from home and attachment objects, such as parents. The defining feature of homesickness is recurrent thoughts focused on home (e.g., house, loved ones, homeland, home cooking, returning home) and the precipitating stressor is always an anticipated or actual separation from home (Thurber, 1999).
Homesickness occurs to some degree in nearly everyone leaving familiar surroundings and entering a new environment.Research on homesickness amongst university students shows that 35% of new students experiencesome homesickness, and that between 5% and 15% describe the experience as frightening: a few will go on to develop depression. Some students will start by being mildly depressed and anxious several weeks before leaving home, in anticipation of the impending change. Others will be fine initially, and then to their surprise find themselves feeling homesick later in the academic year.
Darlena (2011) identifies two types of homesickness- separation and distress. Separation is the developmental process associated with becoming an independent person, and is related to missing family and friends. Distress is the regret felt for having left home and a strong desireto return home. Separation has a slight negative impact, whereas distress has a significant negative impact on self-esteem and self-efficacy.
Feeling homesick can involve a sense of loneliness, sadness, confusion, fear, and preoccupation with thoughts about home. It can also be similar to a grief reaction as students become separated from family and close friends and feel a sense of loss of people, of places, and of familiar routines. These reactions may contribute to greater difficulty in adjusting to the new environment. If students are from another cultural setting, they may experience difficulties adjusting to the new climate, unfamiliar setting, accommodation, transportation, safety issues, and the unfamiliar types of food. Some students may also encounter racial discrimination and difficulties adjusting to the new cultural norms. Financial concerns may also add to the stress of adjustment as many costs can be involved at the start of the university career.
Typical thoughts of homesick students includes: "Everything is so different from homeI don't know if I will ever get used to this place." "No one understands my customs and the food is not at all like home. "I wonder if [Mom, Dad, Grandmother...] is okay without me. "How will I make friends? What if people don't like me? "My roommate(s) is so different from me,I miss my friends so much."I need to get home or at least phone home as often as I can."I want to be with my family."I hate having to live with people I don’t know."I do not know who I am here. "It’s like prison. I don’t belong here."Everyone else seems fine. Why am I the odd one out?"The work seems hard and my professors don't know who I am."
As homesickness is defined as feelings of one missing home, there are many different types of people who are affected by it. From young children to university students, homesickness can impact people very negatively. If it is not dealt with effectively, homesickness can lead to other emotions that are much deeper and could ultimately psychologically damage some people. Homesickness is influence by various psychological variablesamong which is attachment style.
According to Leary (2001), the transition to university is likely to elicit a concernabout rejection. Most people try to avoid rejection and experience emotions ofsadness, anxiety, and loneliness when thinking they are rejected by others(Leary, 2001). Human beings have a drive to maintain positive and significantrelationships, and the innate ability of motivation for interpersonal relationships isseen as a protective measure that increases chance of survival in times ofexternal threat (Baumeister& Leary, 1995). Interpersonal relationships could beconceptualized as a type of bond or attachment. Attachment, as conceptualized by Bowlby (1969), is the seeking and maintaining proximity to another individual.
In Bowlby’s (1969) terms, attachment refers to the state and quality of individuals’ emotional bond, in terms of their dependency and independence, to early care giving figures. Attachment can be secure or insecure. Bowlby claims that to feel safe and secure is to have a secure attachment to a caregiver. Individuals who experience a secure attachment with initial caregivers will also feel safe in subsequent social interactions with new caregivers and other adults. In contrast, individuals who are insecurely attached might experience mixed feelings towards their primary caregiver, such as a fear of rejection, irritability and dependency (Holmes, 1993), and as a result will feel unsafe in future interactions with other adults. The early emotional bond with parents is at the center of initial working models of self in relationships with others.
Attachment styles exhibited by the student during universityhave been linked to psychological well-being (Love & Murdock, 2004), supportseeking (Collins & Feeney, 2000; Vogel & Wei, 2005) and social interaction(Tidwell, Reis, & Shaver, 1996; Aspelmeier& Kerns, 2003). In fact, university freshmen who are suffering from homesickness have been foundto have insecure adult attachment styles and inabilities with forming closerelations with other people (Bogaerts, Vanheule, &Desmet, 2006). Morespecifically, university freshmen who have an insecure attachment style are characterized by attachment avoidance believe that others will not be responsiveto his or her disclosure of feelings, with a tendency to use deactivating strategiesto keep themselves at a distance from others ad therefore feels homesick (Wei, Russell, &Zakalik, 2005).
Conversely, university freshmenwho have secure attachment styles were morelikely to transcend problems with friends and experience lower levels of homesickness(Saferstein, Neimeyer, Hagans, 2005) and feel more competent on academictasks and express more positive attitudes toward exploring novel and socialsituations (Aspelmeier& Kerns, 2003).
Another psychological factor that can influence homesickness is self-esteem. Self-esteem is how we value ourselves, how we perceive our value to the world and how valuable we think we are to others. Self-esteem affects our trust in others, our relationships, our thinking, and nearly every part of our lives. Self-esteem is a state of mind that can be measured in high and low self-esteem.
Having highself-esteem means having feelings of confidence, worthiness and positive regard for oneself, and feel good about them. They feel a sense of belonging and security which help them in forming relationship with others. Theyrespect themselves and appreciate others. They tend to be successful in life because they feel confidentin taking on challenges and risking failure to achieve what they want. They have more energy forpositive pursuits because their energy is not wasted on negative emotions, feelings of inferiority orworking hard to take care of or please others at the expense of their own self-care.
The amount of self-esteem that an individualhas depends on many factors such as how the individual was raised, parentalattitudes, life experiences, etc. Sometimes people have low self-esteem and feel bad about themselvesbecause of failures or disappointments in life, or because of the way others in their lives have treatedthem and as a result lack trust in others, they have low or noconfident in taking on challenges and their mind it full with feelings of inferiority.
Research has indicated that self-esteem has a positive relationship with homesickness; it has been observed that university freshmen with high self-esteem reported low feeling of homesickness while those with low self-esteem reported high feeling of homesickness (Paul & Brier, 2001; Ishler, 2004; Aspinwall& Taylor 1992).
Self-efficacy is another factor that can influence homesickness.Self-efficacy is the measure of the belief in one's own ability to complete tasks and reach goals. Self-efficacy have studied from several perspectives, self-efficacy affects every area of human endeavor. By determining the beliefs a person holds regarding his or her power to affect situations, it strongly influences both the power a person actually has to face challenges competently and the choices a person is most likely to make.
Self-efficacy is a person's judgment about being able to perform a particular activity. It is a student's "I can" or "I cannot" belief. Unlike self-esteem, which reflects how students feel about their worth or value, self-efficacy reflects how confident students are about performing specific tasks such as adjusting to a university life. Self-efficacy is specific to the task being attempted. However, having high self-efficacy does not necessarily mean that students believe they will be successful.
Self-efficacy is commonly defined as the belief in one's capabilities to achieve a goal or an outcome. Students with a strong sense of efficacy are more likely to challenge themselves with difficult tasks and be intrinsically motivated. These students will put forth a high degree of effort in order to meet their commitments, and attribute failure to things which are in their control, rather than blaming external factors. Self-efficacious students also recover quickly from setbacks, and ultimately are likely to achieve their personal goals. Students with low self-efficacy, on the other hand, believe they cannot be successful and thus are less likely to make a concerted, extended effort and may consider challenging tasks as threats that are to be avoided. Thus, students with low self-efficacy are the set of university freshmen that feels homesick (Margolis & McCabe, 2006).
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The transition to university life is often looked upon as a positive event. However, the changes that result can at times be stressful for the student, as he or she leaves existing sources of social support behind. Commonly, this stress creates feelings of homesickness and the intense desire to return home (Urani, Miller & Johnson, 2003).
Homesickness can often set a student back in their adjustment process due to the fact that their main focus is on missing home. Students who are homesick lose focus on what some of their main priorities should be such as making friends and starting new classes. When a student’s main focus is on missing home, they spend their days thinking about being home and being with friends and family rather than on the reality of their life at university. This focus on family and missing home can also lead to the isolation of the student. Students who isolate themselves spend the majority of their time in their rooms alone. They may go to classes and do homework, but they do not put out the effort to make friends or get involved because of their unhealthy/unsecure attachment style, low self-esteem and low self-efficacy.
Transitional period in university is associated with greater levels of adjustment style, self-esteem, and self-efficacy. For a student to successful transform into the university systemhe/she must portray a secure/health attachment style, have a high self-esteem and self-efficacy when otherwise is the case such student falls a victim of homesickness.
Intense longing to be re-united with familiar people and places experienced by homesick persons might be indicative of significant reduction in frequency of physical contact incidental to separation. Similarly, Thurber (1999) observed that homesick persons tend to experience home ruminations and have obsessive thoughts about attachment objects. Inability to disconnect from significant others has negative association is with adjustment, psychological well-being and social functioning (Burt, 1993; Stroebe, Vliet,Hewstone& Willis, 2002; Tochkov, Levine, Sanaka, 2010), and may induce homesickness among fresh students who ruminate about home.
Ruminations about home may occur because for most freshmen, the college or university years might be their first time of staying away from home for a prolonged period, implying that certain traits might enhance their adjustment. Self-efficacy is a measure of the extent to which an individual has confidence in their ability to achieve set goals (Goetz, Cronjaeger, Frenzel, Ludtke& Hall, 2010), and this may include adaptation to a new environment.
High self-efficacy facilitates association in social settings enabling individuals to feel at home in the midst of unfamiliar people that are connected with common interest (Burt, 1993; Stroebe et.al, 2002). This suggests that a high self-efficacy freshman might find it easier mingling with people, and feel welcomed in a new academic environment. On the contrary, a low self-efficacy freshman might have difficulties socializing with new faces, which might increase the motivation to quit the environment (Tsai, Chuang, Liang & Tsai, 2011). Similarly, self-esteem, which measures the extent to which an individual feels positive about the self is another trait that has been shown to be related to homesickness (Burt, 1993; Stroebe et.al, 2002). Because they have low opinion of themselves, low self-esteem persons have a higher tendency than high self-esteem persons to engage in risky behaviors (Baron & Byrne, 1994), this may include truancy and self-imposed social isolation.
However, no adequate empirical studies have examined the influence that attachment style, self-esteem, and self-efficacy as on homesickness of university freshmen. Therefore, a gap exists in the literature. This present study therefore intends to fill this gap by investigating into attachment style, self-esteem, and self-efficacy as factor that predict homesickness among university freshmen.
It would be pertinent to ask some relevant questions;
1. Would there be significant relationship between variables under study?
2. Would attachment style, self-esteem, and self-efficacy jointly influence homesickness among university freshmen?
3. Would self-esteem predict homesickness among university freshmen?
4. Would attachment style, self-esteem, and self-efficacy jointly predict homesickness among university freshmen?
1.3 Purpose of the Study
The main purpose of this study is to examine the attachment style, self-esteem, and self-efficacy as factor that predict homesickness among university freshmen. Based on the research questions above, the specific purpose of this study are to:
1. Examine whether there would be significant relationship between variables under study.
2. Determine whether attachment style, self-esteem, and self-efficacywill jointly influence homesickness among university freshmen.
3. Determine whether self-efficacy would predict homesickness among university freshmen?
4. Explore whether attachment style, self-esteem, and self-efficacy would jointly predict homesickness among university freshmen.
1.4 Relevance of the study
This study has some practical relevance and the potential to contribute to the scientific knowledge and the literatures on attachment style, self-esteem, and self-efficacy as factor that predict homesickness among university freshmen.
Firstly, the identification of students' adjustment problems commonly encountered by freshman students provides the whole picture of the situation. This in turn allows university administrators, guidance and counselors and student affair offices design appropriate policy and program with varieties of support packages to address the needs of the freshman students.
Furthermore, Discovery of adjustment problems of freshman students, particularly homesickness and factors that predict it, will help parent and lecturers to design appropriate strategies so that students may be helped.
In addition, through dissemination of the research findings, students may recognize their situation and are encouraged to seek more timely assistance and services.
Lastly, findings from this study will serve as a reference point and stimulate more research in this direction and it will be of immensely benefits for academic purposes.
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Every year, successful secondary school graduate students move from one place to another to pursue tertiary level education. Students transferring to collegesand universities are increasing as the number and capacity of higher institutions in the country is growing.
Entering higher institution is often seen as an exciting time. However, it can also be a challenging time for students who may have moved away from their social support base and are learning to adapt to a new environment. As a freshman enters university this is a transformative time in their life where they will be figuring out who they are and how to take care of themselves. Students will use this first year away at university in a new environment to try to figure this out. This is all part of the adjustment process they will face as they enter higher institution. This adjustment process is extremely significant because according to research how a student adjusts during their first year of university lays the ground work for other events during their university life (Baker &Siryk, 1984). There are many factors that affect a universityfreshmen’s adjustment process. This study will look at some of the major factors.
One of the major factors that affect the freshmen’s adjustment process is the transition that the student will face. A student’s transition includes anything from starting university for the first time to moving away from home for the first time. A student’s transition is one of the most important aspects of adjustment. If a student does not have a smooth transition to university they will quite possibly have a difficult time adjusting. A student who is starting university for the first time could be facing one of the largest life changes they have ever faced. “Early research on the impact of major life events suggested that any event that caused a person to make a substantial amount of adjustment in his or her life was likely to be stressful (Lafreniere, Ledgerwood& Docherty, 1997).
There has been consistent evidence that major change or transition in the life ofhuman beings can be a risk factor for physical and mental disorder (e.g., Dodge &Martin, 1970; Totman, 1979; Fisher, 1986; Fisher & Hood, 1987) and for significantshifts in subjective experiences of psychological wellbeing (e.g., Hirsch &Rapkin, 1987). One of the most significant life changes that many young people make is the transition to university. Fisher and Hood (1987) identified that first year students making this transition show greatly elevated levels of psychological distress and Peel’s research (2000) outlined how such students often expect to experience difficulties such as significant isolation (“you’re just a number, nobody cares”). Lu (1994) has identified that the university transition shares many features with other significantly stressful life events. One of the major setback student face during their transition phase is homesickness.
The transition from high school to college/university often involves separation from home as well as adapting to a new academic environment. For most new students, adjusting to an unfamiliar academic setting can induce homesickness. Homesickness is defined as the distress and functional impairment caused by an actual or anticipated separation from home and attachment objects, such as parents. The defining feature of homesickness is recurrent thoughts focused on home (e.g., house, loved ones, homeland, home cooking, returning home) and the precipitating stressor is always an anticipated or actual separation from home (Thurber, 1999).
Homesickness occurs to some degree in nearly everyone leaving familiar surroundings and entering a new environment.Research on homesickness amongst university students shows that 35% of new students experiencesome homesickness, and that between 5% and 15% describe the experience as frightening: a few will go on to develop depression. Some students will start by being mildly depressed and anxious several weeks before leaving home, in anticipation of the impending change. Others will be fine initially, and then to their surprise find themselves feeling homesick later in the academic year.
Darlena (2011) identifies two types of homesickness- separation and distress. Separation is the developmental process associated with becoming an independent person, and is related to missing family and friends. Distress is the regret felt for having left home and a strong desireto return home. Separation has a slight negative impact, whereas distress has a significant negative impact on self-esteem and self-efficacy.
Feeling homesick can involve a sense of loneliness, sadness, confusion, fear, and preoccupation with thoughts about home. It can also be similar to a grief reaction as students become separated from family and close friends and feel a sense of loss of people, of places, and of familiar routines. These reactions may contribute to greater difficulty in adjusting to the new environment. If students are from another cultural setting, they may experience difficulties adjusting to the new climate, unfamiliar setting, accommodation, transportation, safety issues, and the unfamiliar types of food. Some students may also encounter racial discrimination and difficulties adjusting to the new cultural norms. Financial concerns may also add to the stress of adjustment as many costs can be involved at the start of the university career.
Typical thoughts of homesick students includes: "Everything is so different from homeI don't know if I will ever get used to this place." "No one understands my customs and the food is not at all like home. "I wonder if [Mom, Dad, Grandmother...] is okay without me. "How will I make friends? What if people don't like me? "My roommate(s) is so different from me,I miss my friends so much."I need to get home or at least phone home as often as I can."I want to be with my family."I hate having to live with people I don’t know."I do not know who I am here. "It’s like prison. I don’t belong here."Everyone else seems fine. Why am I the odd one out?"The work seems hard and my professors don't know who I am."
As homesickness is defined as feelings of one missing home, there are many different types of people who are affected by it. From young children to university students, homesickness can impact people very negatively. If it is not dealt with effectively, homesickness can lead to other emotions that are much deeper and could ultimately psychologically damage some people. Homesickness is influence by various psychological variablesamong which is attachment style.
According to Leary (2001), the transition to university is likely to elicit a concernabout rejection. Most people try to avoid rejection and experience emotions ofsadness, anxiety, and loneliness when thinking they are rejected by others(Leary, 2001). Human beings have a drive to maintain positive and significantrelationships, and the innate ability of motivation for interpersonal relationships isseen as a protective measure that increases chance of survival in times ofexternal threat (Baumeister& Leary, 1995). Interpersonal relationships could beconceptualized as a type of bond or attachment. Attachment, as conceptualized by Bowlby (1969), is the seeking and maintaining proximity to another individual.
In Bowlby’s (1969) terms, attachment refers to the state and quality of individuals’ emotional bond, in terms of their dependency and independence, to early care giving figures. Attachment can be secure or insecure. Bowlby claims that to feel safe and secure is to have a secure attachment to a caregiver. Individuals who experience a secure attachment with initial caregivers will also feel safe in subsequent social interactions with new caregivers and other adults. In contrast, individuals who are insecurely attached might experience mixed feelings towards their primary caregiver, such as a fear of rejection, irritability and dependency (Holmes, 1993), and as a result will feel unsafe in future interactions with other adults. The early emotional bond with parents is at the center of initial working models of self in relationships with others.
Attachment styles exhibited by the student during universityhave been linked to psychological well-being (Love & Murdock, 2004), supportseeking (Collins & Feeney, 2000; Vogel & Wei, 2005) and social interaction(Tidwell, Reis, & Shaver, 1996; Aspelmeier& Kerns, 2003). In fact, university freshmen who are suffering from homesickness have been foundto have insecure adult attachment styles and inabilities with forming closerelations with other people (Bogaerts, Vanheule, &Desmet, 2006). Morespecifically, university freshmen who have an insecure attachment style are characterized by attachment avoidance believe that others will not be responsiveto his or her disclosure of feelings, with a tendency to use deactivating strategiesto keep themselves at a distance from others ad therefore feels homesick (Wei, Russell, &Zakalik, 2005).
Conversely, university freshmenwho have secure attachment styles were morelikely to transcend problems with friends and experience lower levels of homesickness(Saferstein, Neimeyer, Hagans, 2005) and feel more competent on academictasks and express more positive attitudes toward exploring novel and socialsituations (Aspelmeier& Kerns, 2003).
Another psychological factor that can influence homesickness is self-esteem. Self-esteem is how we value ourselves, how we perceive our value to the world and how valuable we think we are to others. Self-esteem affects our trust in others, our relationships, our thinking, and nearly every part of our lives. Self-esteem is a state of mind that can be measured in high and low self-esteem.
Having highself-esteem means having feelings of confidence, worthiness and positive regard for oneself, and feel good about them. They feel a sense of belonging and security which help them in forming relationship with others. Theyrespect themselves and appreciate others. They tend to be successful in life because they feel confidentin taking on challenges and risking failure to achieve what they want. They have more energy forpositive pursuits because their energy is not wasted on negative emotions, feelings of inferiority orworking hard to take care of or please others at the expense of their own self-care.
The amount of self-esteem that an individualhas depends on many factors such as how the individual was raised, parentalattitudes, life experiences, etc. Sometimes people have low self-esteem and feel bad about themselvesbecause of failures or disappointments in life, or because of the way others in their lives have treatedthem and as a result lack trust in others, they have low or noconfident in taking on challenges and their mind it full with feelings of inferiority.
Research has indicated that self-esteem has a positive relationship with homesickness; it has been observed that university freshmen with high self-esteem reported low feeling of homesickness while those with low self-esteem reported high feeling of homesickness (Paul & Brier, 2001; Ishler, 2004; Aspinwall& Taylor 1992).
Self-efficacy is another factor that can influence homesickness.Self-efficacy is the measure of the belief in one's own ability to complete tasks and reach goals. Self-efficacy have studied from several perspectives, self-efficacy affects every area of human endeavor. By determining the beliefs a person holds regarding his or her power to affect situations, it strongly influences both the power a person actually has to face challenges competently and the choices a person is most likely to make.
Self-efficacy is a person's judgment about being able to perform a particular activity. It is a student's "I can" or "I cannot" belief. Unlike self-esteem, which reflects how students feel about their worth or value, self-efficacy reflects how confident students are about performing specific tasks such as adjusting to a university life. Self-efficacy is specific to the task being attempted. However, having high self-efficacy does not necessarily mean that students believe they will be successful.
Self-efficacy is commonly defined as the belief in one's capabilities to achieve a goal or an outcome. Students with a strong sense of efficacy are more likely to challenge themselves with difficult tasks and be intrinsically motivated. These students will put forth a high degree of effort in order to meet their commitments, and attribute failure to things which are in their control, rather than blaming external factors. Self-efficacious students also recover quickly from setbacks, and ultimately are likely to achieve their personal goals. Students with low self-efficacy, on the other hand, believe they cannot be successful and thus are less likely to make a concerted, extended effort and may consider challenging tasks as threats that are to be avoided. Thus, students with low self-efficacy are the set of university freshmen that feels homesick (Margolis & McCabe, 2006).
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The transition to university life is often looked upon as a positive event. However, the changes that result can at times be stressful for the student, as he or she leaves existing sources of social support behind. Commonly, this stress creates feelings of homesickness and the intense desire to return home (Urani, Miller & Johnson, 2003).
Homesickness can often set a student back in their adjustment process due to the fact that their main focus is on missing home. Students who are homesick lose focus on what some of their main priorities should be such as making friends and starting new classes. When a student’s main focus is on missing home, they spend their days thinking about being home and being with friends and family rather than on the reality of their life at university. This focus on family and missing home can also lead to the isolation of the student. Students who isolate themselves spend the majority of their time in their rooms alone. They may go to classes and do homework, but they do not put out the effort to make friends or get involved because of their unhealthy/unsecure attachment style, low self-esteem and low self-efficacy.
Transitional period in university is associated with greater levels of adjustment style, self-esteem, and self-efficacy. For a student to successful transform into the university systemhe/she must portray a secure/health attachment style, have a high self-esteem and self-efficacy when otherwise is the case such student falls a victim of homesickness.
Intense longing to be re-united with familiar people and places experienced by homesick persons might be indicative of significant reduction in frequency of physical contact incidental to separation. Similarly, Thurber (1999) observed that homesick persons tend to experience home ruminations and have obsessive thoughts about attachment objects. Inability to disconnect from significant others has negative association is with adjustment, psychological well-being and social functioning (Burt, 1993; Stroebe, Vliet,Hewstone& Willis, 2002; Tochkov, Levine, Sanaka, 2010), and may induce homesickness among fresh students who ruminate about home.
Ruminations about home may occur because for most freshmen, the college or university years might be their first time of staying away from home for a prolonged period, implying that certain traits might enhance their adjustment. Self-efficacy is a measure of the extent to which an individual has confidence in their ability to achieve set goals (Goetz, Cronjaeger, Frenzel, Ludtke& Hall, 2010), and this may include adaptation to a new environment.
High self-efficacy facilitates association in social settings enabling individuals to feel at home in the midst of unfamiliar people that are connected with common interest (Burt, 1993; Stroebe et.al, 2002). This suggests that a high self-efficacy freshman might find it easier mingling with people, and feel welcomed in a new academic environment. On the contrary, a low self-efficacy freshman might have difficulties socializing with new faces, which might increase the motivation to quit the environment (Tsai, Chuang, Liang & Tsai, 2011). Similarly, self-esteem, which measures the extent to which an individual feels positive about the self is another trait that has been shown to be related to homesickness (Burt, 1993; Stroebe et.al, 2002). Because they have low opinion of themselves, low self-esteem persons have a higher tendency than high self-esteem persons to engage in risky behaviors (Baron & Byrne, 1994), this may include truancy and self-imposed social isolation.
However, no adequate empirical studies have examined the influence that attachment style, self-esteem, and self-efficacy as on homesickness of university freshmen. Therefore, a gap exists in the literature. This present study therefore intends to fill this gap by investigating into attachment style, self-esteem, and self-efficacy as factor that predict homesickness among university freshmen.
It would be pertinent to ask some relevant questions;
1. Would there be significant relationship between variables under study?
2. Would attachment style, self-esteem, and self-efficacy jointly influence homesickness among university freshmen?
3. Would self-esteem predict homesickness among university freshmen?
4. Would attachment style, self-esteem, and self-efficacy jointly predict homesickness among university freshmen?
1.3 Purpose of the Study
The main purpose of this study is to examine the attachment style, self-esteem, and self-efficacy as factor that predict homesickness among university freshmen. Based on the research questions above, the specific purpose of this study are to:
1. Examine whether there would be significant relationship between variables under study.
2. Determine whether attachment style, self-esteem, and self-efficacywill jointly influence homesickness among university freshmen.
3. Determine whether self-efficacy would predict homesickness among university freshmen?
4. Explore whether attachment style, self-esteem, and self-efficacy would jointly predict homesickness among university freshmen.
1.4 Relevance of the study
This study has some practical relevance and the potential to contribute to the scientific knowledge and the literatures on attachment style, self-esteem, and self-efficacy as factor that predict homesickness among university freshmen.
Firstly, the identification of students' adjustment problems commonly encountered by freshman students provides the whole picture of the situation. This in turn allows university administrators, guidance and counselors and student affair offices design appropriate policy and program with varieties of support packages to address the needs of the freshman students.
Furthermore, Discovery of adjustment problems of freshman students, particularly homesickness and factors that predict it, will help parent and lecturers to design appropriate strategies so that students may be helped.
In addition, through dissemination of the research findings, students may recognize their situation and are encouraged to seek more timely assistance and services.
Lastly, findings from this study will serve as a reference point and stimulate more research in this direction and it will be of immensely benefits for academic purposes.
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Kindly pay directly in bank or bank transfer to any of the bank detail with
verifiable name and details
6.
Send the following information to this number after payment
+2348061135915
a.
Your Name b. Your approved project topic c. The Bank you paid to d. Teller
Number e. Bank Branch f. E-mail Address g. Phone Number h. Other payment
details
7.
After your payment has been verified, you will receive your ordered material
within 10 minutes in your e-mail, WhatsApp depending on your choice and nature
of you project.
For
any Complete Project/Material
Contact
Us at:
Call
or Whatsapp
+2348061135915
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